AA: Orphyr

Orphyr (OR-feer)

80 years

Lightly forested mountains

Uncommon; rarely sighted in the wild but sometimes heard from far away in the mountains. Wild populations live on the southern and western faces of the Radiant Peaks. They are bred for use as mounts in Delverne and, to a lesser extent, Cantor as well (mostly by elvish handlers).

The height of a typical orphyr is 8 feet. Males tend to be taller than females.

Very tall and lanky with a long, silky mane and tail. They have strong jumping legs and are deft with their feet. The back toe is claw-like but vestigial. They have barrel chests and expandable throats hidden under the mane, which together provide enough lung space for them to project their melodic, complex calls for long periods. The bony protrusions on their faces are beak-like and are used for levering bark or jousting. They have four long, curved horns on the head for show and jousting; males in general possess longer horns and females more curved ones. Their sclera are orange or red and their irises a very dark red. Their tongues are grey and prehensile.

Orphyr live in small, tight-knit family packs of 4 to 8 individuals but are social with neighbouring family groups as well. They bond by grooming and chatter, often holding long conversations with each other across mountains. Births and deaths are commemorated with song. Foals are born one per gestation and remain reliant on their mothers for around 10 years, during which time the mother will not breed. The firstborn will usually stay with its mother for its entire life. Subsequent young are much less attached - starting from around age 20, most break away to join other family packs or begin their own.

They have a wide range of vocalisations and can achieve a great deal of subtlety in their communication. It's speculated that their voices have magical properties similar to a Troubadour's magic - those who hear their calls often find them oddly mesmerising. Some attribute a sudden personal epiphany to hearing an orphyr's song, and some have on occasion fallen to their deaths out of distraction at hearing one. Orphyr calls sound like a higher-pitched, more nasal version of a wolf howl, with bird-like vocal patterns.

In domestication, orphyr are famously fickle. They can learn quite complex commands (via whistles), but whether or not they obey often depends on mood; effective orphyr handling requires the owner to be receptive to its vagaries. They also desire copious amounts of affection, but have a strong instinct for self-preservation and would abandon a command in a heartbeat upon feeling mortally endangered. The only command an orphyr will follow without fail, they say, is 'run away'.

Orphyr must be hand-reared from infancy to be useful, and ideally be born in captivity. They cannot be tamed as adults or adolescents. Bred orphyr tend to be calmer due to selection, while orphyr taken from the wild as young foals invariably end up more anxious and temperamental - it's therefore better to get a properly bred one if you want a reasonably reliable orphyr mount. Whatever the origin, domesticated/tamed orphyr lose their own wild language - hence they become loners and don't survive long if returned to the wild.

Mountain vegetation (roots, leaves, berries, bark)

• Orphyr are primarily used as mounts, for both civil life and battle. In both cases they are status symbols.
  
  
• In civil use, they are considered luxury mounts as their need for space and attention makes them very demanding. If one can handle it though, an orphyr can be a very affectionate - if fussy - companion. 
  
  
• In battle use, they are considered archers' or casters' mounts. They can't carry much weight so a rider cannot wear armour, and they are liable to bolt at danger regardless of command so they should only be used from a ranged position. For ranged fighters though, they are wonderfully agile, natural escape artists and have an instinct for finding good vantage points which can be leveraged via training. Orphyr trained and ridden by Troubadours can also reinforce simple battle songs (e.g. to instill fear or courage) by accompanying the music in their own way.
  
  
• The hair of orphyr is also used to make valuable high-end cloths. Other than being pleasantly soft and slightly shimmery, there are no special properties inherent to orphyr hair - however enchantments are often woven into orphyr-hair fabric so the fabric is usually somewhat special. In reality the value is more cultural than practical.
  

• Orphyr have notably been used as mounts by several legendary Delvan heroes, which cements its position as a revered and desireable mount for Delvans. It has not been lost on poets and writers that the orphyr is a golden creature with a particularly graceful silhouette. The myth goes that the songs of wild orphyr hold shadows of ancient battle ballads and this is why their cries are so haunting. Superficially, it is possible - they are known to borrow strains of songs they hear, but garbled and only for their own purposes.
  
  
• Orphyr lovers however lament that their mystique leads to many naive or cruel owners. That some of the shinier heroes gained theirs from wild (often by Aurea's gift) has created a desire among some to poach their own animals. Buyers also often over-idealise them and end up being negligent owners with unrealistic expectations. Many first-timers are dismayed to find out how much care their new orphyr needs, and how little easy loyalty it gives back.
  
  
• Because orphyr lifespans are similar to human lifespans, it has become fashionable among Cantish and Mirian nobles (and therefore the affluent) to gift their children with a newborn orphyr foal at birth - the intention is that the orphyr will become a lifelong companion for the child.
  
  
• In Delverne on the other hand, it's sometimes commented by more traditional elves that you'd rather have an orphyr than a human (partner) - they'll die in the same time and at least the orphyr doesn't need you to pretend it's an equal.